


A Perfect Excuse

by StripedScribe



Series: Febuwhump2021 [6]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: FebuWhump2021, Gen, Insomnia, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:46:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29238537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StripedScribe/pseuds/StripedScribe
Summary: He had insomnia. That was it, nothing more than that. An easy excuse for the tiredness he felt all the time, for the unexpected injuries, for the days he spent sleeping.It wasn't the screams keeping him awake, spilling into his dreams. Just InsomniaFebuwhump Day 6 [Insomnia]
Relationships: Matt Murdock & Franklin "Foggy" Nelson
Series: Febuwhump2021 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2136723
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	A Perfect Excuse

It was the easiest of the lies. Tiredness, the smallest amount of sympathy he’d allow himself to have. A lie to hide his double life, to hide what he got up to with the curtains closed.

Insomnia.

When the waking screams plagued his sleep, visions of people dying over and over again. Finding his father dead in the street, hands not yet used to seeing, searching the face for familiarities. Even as the skin cooled under his touch, and shouts tried to call him away. When new screams joined his father’s voice in his dreams, in his nightmares, all the people he was too late to help. All the people that mocked him, that punished him. Even in the daytime, their voices echoing around empty walls.

Insomnia.

When he tripped over the ground, too focused on the information passing hands blocks away, to pay attention to what his cane was telling him. Concentrating on hundreds of conversations at once, trying to find who those words came from, missing out on what was happening to him in the moment.

Insomnia.

When he missed yet another important meeting, a new client, because he was trying to stitch his skin back together. When he couldn’t be seen at work, because of the bruise he knew was colouring half of his face, and all the makeup in his apartment couldn’t cover this one.

Insomnia.

That they tried to tell him was more than that. That after experiencing and fighting all he did, that he needed help, needed support. Needing someone to lean on. Tried to diagnose him, all these words, these definitions, that did make sense. That when he looked them up, he had to shut it all down, push it away into another tiny box in his mind. Only accepting the words that didn’t quit suit what was happening, but was enough to shout at strangers. A box he didn’t quite fit into, but what had he ever fully belonged to?

Insomnia.

Prescribed pills he would never take. That the one time he did take them, he was a walking zombie the next day, and that he slept too deeply to wake up to his alarm. Missing the day because he was trying to be good, to follow advice, but he couldn’t be Daredevil if he shut himself off from the world every time he got a little sleepy. The tiredness was a price to pay for his sins.

Insomnia?

When Foggy convinced him to stay over, and he slept easier than he had in years, with the presence of someone else he trusted. When he ended up at Claire’s, threats to make him stay so he didn’t immediately rip stitches. Where again, her heartbeat pulled him into a restful sleep, kept the monsters at bay for one night.

Sleep.

Two bedrooms, a shared kitchen. Two people tired of living alone, and longing for a better life. A fire escape safe for the Devil to sneak into, a space for two people to live, like they had before. A heartbeat a beacon in the screams of Hell, a lighthouse to the monster stalking on the rooftops, protecting his city.

Peace.

Someone who accepted him. For his secrets he no longer needed to keep, and masks he removed with shaky hands. For late night conversations, spilling their hearts, everything they’d kept hidden to the world. Through all the flaws, and everything the world told them they shouldn’t be.


End file.
